David Liben-Nowell, associate professor of computer science, has been named a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and was invited to speak at the Fifth Indo-American Frontiers of Science symposium held in Agra, India in early April 2013.
Liben-Nowell’s lecture, “Tracing Information Flow Online,” surveyed the computational research analyzing information propagation through digital traces of online activity. The lecture focused on the mechanics of how information, news, and jokes circulate globally in social networks and why these movements have been difficult to observe directly. Liben-Nowell also discussed his recent work, in collaboration with Jon Kleinberg and Flavio Chierichetti, which traces such information-spreading processes via the reconstruction of the propagation of two massively circulated Internet chain letters.
Kavli Fellows are selected from among the nation’s brightest young scientists who have made significant contributions to science and who have been identified as future leaders in the scientific community. Kavli Frontiers of Science symposia bring together these outstanding young scientists to discuss the exciting advances taking place in their fields. The format encourages collaboration and brings together some of the most exciting, cutting-edge research from a variety of disciplines.